Will a Conditional Discharge Affect my PR Card Renewal?

Will a Conditional Discharge Affect my PR Card Renewal?

The effects of accepting a conditional discharge or going to a trial on your application for Canadian permanent residency renewal: I do not know what the Crown’s initial sentencing position is in your particular case, so I have to answer this question generally.

Your criminal lawyer must have already explained to you that, the outcome of a trial can never be predicted. The best outcome for you would have been an acquittal at the trial or an absolute discharge, but again, no one can guarantee that. 

If you go to a trial and lose, you are left with a conviction. 

The other option is to accept a conditional discharge – if one was offered to you. 

A conditional discharge is not the same as a conviction. A discharge means that even though you are guilty, you are not being convicted. If you are granted a conditional discharge, you should not be inadmissible to Canada. In other words, if you get an absolute discharge, or if you get a conditional discharge and you obey all the conditions, your permanent resident status will not be affected. In cases where a permanent resident has received a conditional discharge, the probationary period is not viewed as a term of imprisonment, and as a result, does not render the individual inadmissible under IRPA s 36(1(a). 

Finally, I am not an immigration officer and as such, I cannot guarantee the outcome of an immigration officer’s review. If an officer makes a mistake in applying the correct law or correctly applying the law to the facts of your case, you can take that inside-Canada decision to the Federal Court for an Application for Leave and Judicial Review in the first fifteen days after receiving the refusal letter.

Relevant sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)

Serious criminality

• 36 (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for

o    (a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or of an offence under an Act of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been imposed;

o    (b) having been convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years; or

o    (c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years.

Marginal note: Criminality

(2) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of criminality for

o    (a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by way of indictment, or of two offences under any Act of Parliament not arising out of a single occurrence;

o    (b) having been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, or of two offences not arising out of a single occurrence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute offences under an Act of Parliament;

o    (c) committing an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament; or

o    (d) committing, on entering Canada, an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations

The relevant section of the Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) is:

Conditional and absolute discharge

• 730 (1) Where an accused, other than an organization, pleads guilty to or is found guilty of an offence, other than an offence for which a minimum punishment is prescribed by law or an offence punishable by imprisonment for fourteen years or for life, the court before which the accused appears may, if it considers it to be in the best interests of the accused and not contrary to the public interest, instead of convicting the accused, by order direct that the accused be discharged absolutely or on the conditions prescribed in a probation order made under subsection 731(2).

If you would like to know more about if a conditional discharge affect your PR card renewal, speak with our criminal lawyer Lucas Pearce.